This invention relates to pet animal maintenance and care equipment and apparatus, and more particularly to combined activated exercise and hygienic or physical care equipment for pets, particularly feline pets. Still more particularly, the invention relates to a combined cat activity or exercise device (e.g., scratching post) and claw-trimmer.
Numerous devices have been proposed and offered in the past for providing entertainment or activities for pets and for exercising them, providing various appearance care, etc., and some such devices have attempted various combinations of these characteristics. For example, in previous U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,666,907 and 5,730,084, a device for cats was proposed which provided an abrasive at the bottom of a cat litter pan, on the assumption that the animal""s natural scratching tendencies in using a litter pan would thus automatically work to smooth and shorten or at least dull its claws. A small number of other similar such efforts have also been proposed in the past, as shown, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,019, wherein an abrasive sheet is attached to a scratching post; however, it seems clear that such devices would have a minimal effect at best and would not actually shorten the claws very much, or take the place of trimming, if indeed actually operative for either intended purpose at all.
Nonetheless, the need for an effective such device continues unabated, and to an ever-increasing degree as the pet population steadily increases.
The present invention provides a unique and effective solution for the above problem in the area of pet felines, particularly house cats, by providing a novel and unobvious claw-trimming device and in addition providing a unique way of utilizing such a device by mounting it upon an exercise apparatus, e.g., a cat scratching post, which cats naturally tend to use.
As a result, the invention provides a highly novel and unique combination apparatus which the animals naturally tend to use, enjoy, and which automatically trims their claws to a desired length. Further, in the broader aspects of the invention the novel trimming device can be used in other ways for achieving the same basic result, and its cutting member may be made variable or adjustable in nature so that the length of the resulting trimmed claw conforms to a predetermined size.
The foregoing major attributes and advantages of the invention will be better understood and appreciated after considering the following specification and drawings disclosing a preferred embodiment thereof.